""A polarisation engine:  how social media has created a perfect storm for UK's far-right riots."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporter and correspondent.  Accessed on 03 August 2024, 2248 UTC.

Content and Source:  https://www.theguardian.com.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

 

Technology | The Guardian

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‘A polarisation engine’: how social media has created a ‘perfect storm’ for UK’s far-right riots

200+by Carole Cadwalladr / 8h

Algorithms that send the most outrageous comments viral and a chain reaction of anger and disinformation made the riots that followed the Southport killings inevitable The 1996 Dunblane massacre and the outcry that followed are held up in the US as a textbook example of how an act of terror mobilised a country to demand effective gun regulation. The atrocity, in which 16 children and their teache

OpenAI’s Sam Altman is becoming one of the most powerful people on Earth. We should be very afraid

92by Gary Marcus / 9h

Sam Altman’s ChatGPT promises to transform the global economy. But it also poses an enormous threat. Here, a scientist who appeared with Altman before the US Senate on AI safety flags up the danger in AI – and in Altman himself On 16 May 2023, Sam Altman , OpenAI’s charming, softly spoken, eternally optimistic billionaire CEO, and I stood in front of the US Senate judiciary subcommittee meeting o

Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’

38by Robin McKie, Science Editor / 6h

The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history’ It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the process that drives the stars – and so create a source of cheap,

Today

Minister apologises for Northern Ireland special education needs data breach

Department of Education investigates data breach

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by Shane Harrison / 7h

Paul Givan says details of 407 people mistakenly sent out included names, addresses and personal comments The education minister in Northern Ireland has “unreservedly” apologised after the personal details of more than 400 people who had offered to contribute to a review of special education needs were breached. The embarrassing data breach came to light on Thursday after the education department

Silicon Valley’s Trump supporters are dicing with the death of democracy | John Naughton

Silicon Valley splits over Trump Harris

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23by John Naughton / 7h

In 2016, some said comparisons between the rises of Trump and Hitler were misguided. But as tech’s titans donate millions, worrying new parallels emerge In How Democracy Ends , his elegant book published after Trump’s election in 2016, David Runciman made a startling point. It was that while the liberal democracy that we take for granted won’t last for ever, it will not fail in ways familiar from

Yesterday

Starmer’s live facial recognition plan would usher in national ID, campaigners say

Starmer expands facial recognition policing

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500+by Dan Sabbagh / 12h

PM accused of ignoring civil rights and aping autocracies as he proposes new powers after far-right unrest Civil liberties campaigners have said that a proposal made by Keir Starmer on Thursday to expand the use of live facial recognition technology would amount to the effective introduction of a national ID card system based on people’s faces. Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, sai

We must be wary of the power of AI | Letters

by Guardian Staff / 12h

Robert Skidelsky is concerned about the surveillance potential or AI, while Brian Reffin Smith is worried about its capacity to hijack culture, and Michael Heaton warns that it relieves us of the need to think In his interesting opinion article ( Robots sacked, screenings shut down: a new movement of luddites is rising up against AI, 27 July ), Ed Newton-Rex misses one of the most serious concern

Why have the big seven tech companies been hit by AI boom doubts?

Big Tech struggles to monetize AI

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20by Dan Milmo Global technology editor, and Alex Hern, UK technology editor / 13h

Their shares have fallen 11.8% from last month’s peak but more AI breakthroughs may reassure investors It has been tough week for the magnificent seven, the group of technology stocks that has played a dominant role in the US stock market, buoyed by investor excitement about breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. Last year Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, the chipmaker Nvidia, Google’s parent, Alphab

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